Observations and Interpretations:
3 types of repeated words:
“Saul has struck down his thousands,
but David his tens of thousands!”
prophesied=(BDB) prophesy under influence of divine spirit: a. in the ecstatic state...excited to violence
(1) People love David
A. The fact that Jonathan loved David should not surprise us, given that both of them were brave and took over Saul.
i. Jonathan loved David as much as he did his own life v.1,3
The word love was used in the love of father to son, the love of woman to man/man to woman, the love of slave to master, and the love of inferior to superior.
ii. Jonathan and David became bound together in close friendship v.1
(EBC) The closest parallel is Genesis 44:30: nep̱eš qešûrāh benep̱eš (“life … closely bound up with … life”), describing Jacob’s profound love for his youngest son, Benjamin (cf. Gen 44:20)
Misunderstanding of Jonathan's love to David: (EBC) Tom Horner... asserts that the relationship between David and Jonathan was homosexual. But the verb ʾāhēḇ (“love”) is not used elsewhere to express homosexual desire or activity, for which the OT employs yāḏaʿ (“know”), in the sense of “have sex with” (Gen 19:5; Judg 19:22).
B. Saul also loved David in the beginning v.2, 5, all Israel and Judah loved David v.16, and honored him v.30 Michal loved David v.20. Both Jonathan and Michal protected David over their own father 19;1, 11.
Reflection: Do you love people who share the same faith as yours? Do you honor people who walked with God? Do you honor leaders who are instilled by God? Those kinds of love should be natural when we love God.
Note the word, love and the phrase "soul bonded together", are also used in family relationships. Do we love people of God like we love our family?
(2) Saul was jealous on David and feared David
A. Saul was at peace with David until he heard the song the women sang, which compared him with David v.7:
“Saul has struck down his thousands,
but David his tens of thousands!”
v. 9 So Saul was keeping an eye on David from that day onward.
B. Started from jealousy Saul now feared David when he witnessed how God was with David and departed from him. v.12, 14-15. When he witnessed more success of David more he realized that the LORD was with David and he became even more afraid of David v.28-29.
Reflection: Jealousy made Saul's heart completely changed. He lived in fear afterwards. The fact that God was with David would have been a blessing to him, given that David worked for him and won the battle for Israel. Do we live in jealousy in a sense that we are constantly comparing ourselves with others? Whom do you compare yourself with? People in your age group, but healthier or smarter than you? People with a more successful career than you? People accomplished more in life than you? People prettier than you?
Our eyes are on people around us, rather than focusing on God. Do we live in fear? We fear that we are not as successful as other people. Do our eyes focus on God or on other people whom we tried to compare with?
(3) Extra information: Evil spirit and prophesying
A. The Bible tied closely the evil spirit coming upon Saul to (1) the departure of the spirit of God from Saul 16:14 and (2) Saul's sins. The evil spirit was his punishment from God. As a result of the evil spirit, Saul prophesied and he became violent to David:
[when he heard the women singing and proved to jealous] 18:9 So Saul was keeping an eye on David from that day onward. .
10 The next day an evil spirit from God rushed upon Saul and he prophesied within his house...There was a spear in Saul’s hand, 11 and Saul threw the spear
10 The next day an evil spirit from God rushed upon Saul and he prophesied within his house...There was a spear in Saul’s hand, 11 and Saul threw the spear
prophesied=(BDB) prophesy under influence of divine spirit: a. in the ecstatic state...excited to violence
B. Now, not only Saul's messengers prophesying 19:20-21, he himself prophesied
23 So Saul went to Naioth in Ramah. The Spirit of God came upon him as well, and he walked along prophesying until he came to Naioth in Ramah. 24 He even stripped off his clothes and prophesied before Samuel. He lay there naked all that day and night.
(EBC) The Spirit of God, however, protects David by causing first three successive contingents of Saul’s messengers (vv.20–21) and finally Saul himself to prophesy (vv.22–23)...the prophesying was in the form of succumbing to a divinely induced possession trance rather than of speaking a divinely given word.
Reflection: we need to be careful for discerning the work of the HS. Just because someone speaks ecstatically from God does not prove that God is pleased with that person. God used prophesying to stop Saul from doing evil to David. The WOG is our guide.
Audrey
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